The world’s largest chemical company, Germany’s BASF, is set to further cut its production of ammonia—a key ingredient of fertilizer—amid soaring gas prices.
“We are reducing production at facilities that require large volumes of natural gas, such as ammonia plants,” BASF Chief Executive Martin Brudermueller said in a media call on July 27 after the release of the company’s results for the second quarter of 2022.
In September 2021, BASF cut ammonia production at its headquarters in Ludwigshafen, as well as at its large chemical complex in Antwerp, Belgium.
To fill gaps in supply, BASF would purchase some ammonia from external suppliers, Brudermueller said.
Ammonia is a key ingredient in fertilizer production. It also plays a key role in manufacturing engineering plastics and diesel exhaust fluid. Its production also yields high-purity carbon dioxide as a byproduct, which is needed by the meat and fizzy drinks industries.
Chemical companies are the biggest industrial natural gas users in Germany and ammonia is the single most gas-intensive product within that industry. The production of ammonia usually accounts for about 4.5 percent of the natural gas used by German industries.
Germany’s biggest ammonia maker, SKW Piesteritz, and number four Ineos have separately said they could not rule out production cuts amid disruption to Russian gas supplies.
Unlike many European countries, Germany has no liquefied natural gas port terminals to replace Russian pipeline gas. That means companies are under pressure to reduce gas intensive activities if gas deliveries are cut further.
Russian gas producer Gazprom on July 27 began reducing its gas supply to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the major delivery route to Europe for Russian gas. Supplies were cut to a mere fifth, or 20 percent, of the pipeline’s total capacity. The drop comes after the pipeline restarted on July 21, following a scheduled 10-day maintenance outage.
In an effort to boost the region’s energy security, the European Union on July 26 announced a “voluntary reduction” of natural gas demand by 15 percent for the winter.
Brudermueller said that come 2023, farmers would see high fertilizer costs and fertilizer availability might be worse.
“The main application for ammonia is for fertilizers and that’s for producing food. For this year that’s not going to be a problem because all the farmers have already bought their fertilizers and have already used it on their field. The harvest is already taking place,” he said. “Next availability will be worse because the capacity is not going to be there and the next is price. Fertilizer prices are skyrocketing.”
“And then farmers will be forced to save money and will only use the minimum of fertilizers on their field. Might also mean that harvest is going to be minor. If there are weather problems, [it would result in] a shortage situation for important crops,” he added, noting that poorer countries at the end of the food supply chain would face significant challenges.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Mimi Nguyen Ly covers world news with a focus on U.S. news. Contact her at mimi.nl@epochtimes.com
As the former head of food chemistry for Eat Just, Dr. Jasmin Hume thought there was a lot of white space for innovation when it came to food ingredients.
She knew food companies would increasingly need new and novel ingredients they could build plant-based food products around, but felt there wasn’t enough research being done to discover these critical building blocks.
So she decided to start a company to do just that. So far, the company has raised over $20 million and recently hired Impossible Foods’ former VP of R&D and strategic ingredients.
On the podcast, Jasmin and I discuss a variety of topics, including:
How the alternative protein market is evolving from early fully vertically integrated brands to companies like Shiru that build ingredients and solutions for a variety of companies
The new cohort of food companies utilizing AI and ML to build the next generation of food
How what Shiru is doing with precision fermentation is different from that of Perfect Day and others trying to create animal-identical proteins
Where Jasmin sees the ingredient industry going in the future
Plus lots more!
You can listen to the podcast by clicking play below or you can find it at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
It omits several common teriyaki ingredients, like sake, which makes the recipe easier.
The sauce was very tasty, but the chicken was extremely dry, so I'd velvet it next time.
I love an excellent plate of teriyaki chicken and was excited to find an easy recipe that only calls for three main ingredients.
It mostly includes pantry staples and omits some typical additions, like sake.
So I tested the recipe out for myself.
I started by drying the chicken
I dried and salted the raw chicken breasts.Kaila Yu
It's important to dry your chicken before cooking it in a pan to get a nice sear. Otherwise, it'll steam.
The recipe recommends trimming off any fat, but I left it on since that's where a lot of the flavor comes from.
It also doesn't specify how much salt to use, but I added a generous amount.
Once I chopped the chicken into bite-sized pieces, I turned on the heat
I fried the chicken in some vegetable oil.Kaila Yu
I warmed the pan over medium heat for a minute before adding the vegetable oil. After another minute, I threw in the cubed chicken.
I turned the meat a couple of times until it was nicely browned and cut one of the pieces to make sure it was white inside.
Even though the instructions say to fry the chicken for 12 minutes, I only did so for nine since I didn't want to overcook it.
I put the meat aside in a bowl, leaving the burner on.
Conveniently, the sauce goes directly into the same pan, which saved me dirty dishes
I added light-brown sugar and soy sauce to the same pan.Kaila Yu
First, I added the light-brown sugar, then the soy sauce. I continuously stirred the mixture over medium heat until it started to furiously bubble.
Then I kept stirring for about two-and-a-half minutes until the sauce thickened and reduced.
The recipe says to mix for five minutes, but the sauce looked done, and I didn't want to reduce it too much.
The rest of the meal came together pretty quickly.Kaila Yu
Adding the chicken back into the pan, I stirred it in until it was thoroughly coated. It looked and smelled so delicious that I wanted to eat it right then and there.
I poured the chicken into a bowl, then dressed it with sesame seeds that I happened to have in my pantry. I forgot to buy green onion for garnish, but I didn't miss it.
Even though the sauce was fantastic, the chicken didn't turn out great
I served the teriyaki chicken with rice and vegetables.Kaila Yu
The sauce was savory and delicious. I doused my rice in it and could eat that combo alone as a meal.
Unfortunately, the chicken was super dry and seemed almost inedible, even though I cooked it for less time than instructed.
Teriyaki chicken is a Japanese recipe, but I'd recommend velveting the meat — a quick Chinese technique where you marinate your meat in egg white and cornstarch before cooking it in oil to make it super tender.
I'd also leave the skin on because it's tastier and helps the meat retain its moisture, and swap chicken breasts — which tend to be dryer — for thighs.
Overall, I'd totally make this sauce again, but I'll try a different strategy for the chicken.
Unless you're lucky enough to eat fish straight off the dock, it will have a certain level of "fishiness." But the odor isn't synonymous with the fish going bad; it's just science. Thanks to the physiology of fish, a compound called trimethylamine (TMA) is produced when fish die, which is responsible for that "fishy" smell.
According to Cook's Illustrated, soaking fish in milk for 20 minutes will neutralize and remove the offensive odor. The protein in milk, casein, binds to the TMA. After 20 minutes, the milk is drained, taking the TMA with it and leaving a sweet-smelling filet in its place. Susan Olayinka uses this method when preparing her pan-seared swordfish recipe. She notes that milk also tenderizes dense fish and leaves a mellower flavor. Just pat the fish dry and continue with your recipe.
Although freshwater fish, such as trout and catfish, don't get as "fishy" as ocean fish, they can have a "muddy" smell, which isn't pleasant either. Blue-green algae in surface waters where it's warm, shallow, and sunny can produce a toxin that penetrates the fish's skin, causing that smell. With these types of fish, adding an acid, such as lemon juice or vinegar, should remove any offensive odors, per Nutrition.
Try this unexpected ingredient the next time you prepare salmon, shellfish, or even the uber-stinky bluefish. It'll save your home from smelling like fish, and maybe you'll convert your carnitarian at home, too.
There are many different methods out there for creating the perfect key lime pie. But the addition of one decadent ingredient can make that citrus flavor stand out. White chocolate is made with cacao or cocoa butter, which is the fat derived from cocoa beans, then mixed with sugar, milk solids, and sometimes lecithin (per Britannica).
While there's some debate in the culinary world about how white chocolate isn't actually chocolate, some chefs believe the debate over white chocolate ends in procuring bars with minimal ingredients, per The Washington Post. According to the Post, chocolate bar creator Denise Castronova believes white chocolate is "a good medium in which you can play creatively with flavors and texture."
Speaking of flavor, white chocolate traditionally works well with fruit due to its subtleness. P Magazine suggests using acidic fruits for white chocolate pairings to balance the milkiness with tart flavors. This has proven to be true for limes — one unique pie was a finalist in the Nestle Kitchens Pie Contest a few years back, and certain chefs continually pair white chocolate with lemon to create a dynamic duo.
While there are ample pie recipes out there, key lime pie is distinct for its tangy citrus flavors and creamy sweetness. Consider adding some white chocolate to the filling of your next zesty creation. If fear is holding you back, shaving some white chocolate onto that fresh whipped cream topping will also do the trick.
You might want to add some salmon to your scrambled eggs on occasion, or even some tomatoes or mushrooms. But if you don't want to spend much of your morning chopping fresh veggies or braising salmon, there's an easier umami fix for your quick scrambled eggs. Just reach into the pantry or fridge and grab your favorite bottle of soy sauce.
As LifeHacker explains, soy sauce adds a deep, rich umami flavor to your scrambled eggs. Unlike other simple umami ingredients that you can add, such as onion powder, soy sauce is not at all subtle, so is the way to go if you want a pungent flavor that will change up the flavor profile of your favorite breakfast dish. Just start with a splash of soy sauce, and cook the eggs low and slow.
Once you give your newly reinvented scrambled eggs an initial taste, you can decide if you want to add more or less soy sauce next time. Whatever you decide, one thing's for certain — the umami trend is here to stay.
New Mexico is a violent state. It ranks among the worst for women murdered by men, child abuse and neglect are almost twice as common as they are nationwide, and its rate of suicide is one of the highest of any state. Last year, Albuquerque’s homicide rate shattered previous records, a 46% jump from 2020, and the state’s reached heights not experienced since 1986.
This story is part of Blind Drunk, a New Mexico In Depth series about New Mexico’s neglected crisis of alcohol-related deaths.
It’s understood that drinking and violence go together but the public may not recognize just how intertwined they are — particularly in New Mexico, where violence involves alcohol more than any other intoxicant.
A New Mexico In Depth analysis of toxicology records obtained from the state health department shows in the last 10 years, at least 42% of homicide victims were drinking alcohol at the time of death. So were at least 32% of people who died by suicide, which is also considered a violent death. In 2020, the health department attributed a total of 231 violent deaths to alcohol, outnumbering alcohol-involved traffic fatalities that year.
The analysis also showed that more than half of homicide victims in Santa Fe County in that period had alcohol in their blood, a finding Sheriff Adan Mendoza called “alarming.” After reviewing the data, his staff examined the records of six recent homicides and found drinking involved in five.
“I don’t think as law enforcement sometimes we’re thinking about some of the underlying issues, why we respond, why we handle calls. But when you sit down and think about it, and you look at the data, it’s concerning,” Mendoza said.
And just as alcohol can encourage violence, victims may self-medicate with alcohol or other drugs, propelling an unrelenting cycle. To break free, addiction specialists say people need to address their substance disorders and traumas simultaneously — but few New Mexican healthcare providers make that easy.
Adding fuel to the fire
Physiologically, drinking contributes to violence in multiple ways. Alcohol can inhibit reasoning and empathy, encourage impulsive behavior, and blind people to the long-term consequences of their actions. That makes those who are intoxicated both easier targets and more audacious attackers.
Alcohol alone does not cause violence, scientists say, but it increases its likelihood. David Jernigan, a professor at Boston University School of Public Health, compared it to pouring gasoline on a lit fire. “If there is potential for violence, and you add alcohol, the potential increases.”
It’s not just the drinking that matters. Businesses that sell alcohol have been shown to generate violence in their proximity, both because their customers are appealing targets of crime and because trips to the alcohol outlet brings them into contact — and sometimes conflict — with one another. A study in Baltimore found that for each additional liquor store in a census tract, violent crime increased 4.8% after adjusting for other factors such as poverty and vacant housing.
Alcohol also contributes to suicide deaths, which outnumber homicides statewide by more than two to one but receive far less attention from policymakers.
The data analyzed by New Mexico In Depth are part of the New Mexico Violent Death Reporting System (NM-VDRS), which draws on police reports and death certificates from nearly every violent death statewide. Whenever possible, health department officials also investigate the circumstances preceding violent deaths. Historically, about one in five New Mexican suicide victims had chronic drinking problems that contributed to their despair. Notably, nearly half of people aged 35 to 44 who died by suicide in New Mexico last year were intoxicated.
Wendy Linebrink-Allison, who manages the state’s crisis hotline, said that among the 93,480 calls that operators fielded in 2021, callers were more likely to report being intoxicated with alcohol than any other substance. “I would put alcohol as it relates to suicide prevention as one of the top three concerns that people should be aware of,” she said.
Layers of trauma
Dr. Larissa Lindsey began her career in clinical psychology on the East Coast treating patients who had experienced profound traumas, including veterans and prisoners. But this didn’t prepare her for the patient population she met in Albuquerque. “The only community I’ve worked in that I would say very closely parallels this one is Newark, New Jersey, which was a relatively stable community until the 70s and 80s when it was just decimated by the crack cocaine epidemic,” she said.
Lindsey now directs clinical services at the University of New Mexico’s Addiction and Substance Abuse Program, known as ASAP, a catchment for this sorrow.
ASAP occupies a two-story building of russet stucco a couple miles south of the university campus, out by the airport. Lindsey and others say the remote location reflects stringent regulations governing where prescribers of substance use medications can operate, as well as long-standing stigma towards the people who need them. The program opted for a building near a city bus route, since many patients lack personal transportation.
The program cares for about 800 patients at any time. Though many are middle-aged and have a well-worn relationship with drugs or alcohol, their addictions are often rooted in childhood traumas.
In New Mexico, surveyed children report higher exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) than kids in most other states, including physical abuse and the misery of deep poverty. Lindsey explained that for developing minds, hunger and homelessness are similar in effect to violence: “They don’t know where the next meal is going to come from — and in a child’s brain, that’s life threatening.” In turn, studies show that each ACE puts a child at higher risk of developing alcohol problems later in life.
Advocates note that many people exposed to trauma recover, particularly if they have attentive families and strong support systems. “Children are really resilient,” said Amber Wallin, executive director of the advocacy organization New Mexico Voices for Children, particularly if they are only exposed to one or two ACEs. But if trauma accumulates beyond that, she said, the challenges become more difficult to overcome — “and that’s where New Mexico fares really poorly.”
Improving outcomes for New Mexico’s kids is the “million-dollar question,” said Wallin, but the state has been perpetually mired near the bottom of rankings for overall child well-being.
Breaking the cycle
In Brittany’s childhood in northern New Mexico, alcohol and violence intermingled from the very beginning. Her first memory is of her grandfather returning home extremely drunk and getting into a physical fight with her dad.
All the adults in her family drank regularly, Brittany said. (To protect her confidentiality, in this article she is identified by a pseudonym.) Physical and verbal abuse were routine. “I don’t remember a lot because I would disassociate myself, because it was stressful,” she said. At school, she was shy, she said. “I had friends but not anybody I could get close to.”
Untreated trauma like Brittany’s can lead to addiction through a cascade of neurodevelopmental problems. Lindsey explained that a child may begin to struggle in school and in relating to other children, exacerbating conflicts with his or her family. Spending time with other troubled children can increase the chances the traumatized child experiments with alcohol and drugs and then comes to depend on them to cope with life’s difficulties. “That’s essentially what addiction is.”
In early adolescence, Brittany found an outlet in basketball, volleyball, and softball, but at 16 she discovered alcohol. Where she had once struggled to relax, now she was at ease — as long as she was drinking. But her traumas accumulated: at a party the summer after she graduated from high school, she was drugged and sexually assaulted, she said. Injuries she suffered during the attack led to a near-fatal infection, which required a months-long hospitalization and even longer recovery to regain her motor skills. “So, that was a big thing that I drank over, after that,” she said.
She struggled through three semesters of community college before dropping out to take a series of low-wage jobs. “I really didn’t have any dreams — or I did, but I’m like, it’s just not for me.” Drinking more heavily, she was convicted of a DWI, then another.
After the second arrest, her mindset began to shift. She completed a court-mandated treatment program and met with a therapist for the first time at Sexual Assault Services of Northwest New Mexico.
She also began attending 12-step meetings and opened up to a friend who had similar experiences. “She would say things that I felt, or that I had thought before, that I never heard anybody else say,” Brittany recalled. “I felt more connected than I had ever been.” Three years later at her college graduation, she was asked to give a speech to her classmates, and has since taken on leadership roles in the state’s network of Alcoholics Anonymous chapters.
But she said she wouldn’t have succeeded without treating her trauma and her addiction simultaneously. She emphasizes this to other women with substance use disorders rooted in similar traumas, which she said is common among the people she knows in recovery.
That’s the approach taken by Lindsey and the providers at ASAP, which is one of the state’s foremost programs for trauma-informed care of addiction — and among the few that accept Medicaid, which insures nearly half of New Mexicans. Most other providers around the state don’t offer that combination.
“They would be told ‘we can’t treat your PTSD or your depression or bipolarity until you stop using’,” said Lindsey, “and then they go to that treatment center and they say ‘we’re not going to be effective at treating your substance use disorder because your trauma symptoms are so pronounced’.”
Missing approaches
It’s important for patients to get treatment that interrupts cycles of trauma and substance use, but statewide policies that address the underlying causes of alcohol-fueled violence could prevent such cycles from even beginning.
Specifically, there’s a growing body of evidence for limiting the ubiquity of alcohol and increasing its price.
Sara Markowitz, a professor of economics at Emory University who co-authored a book chapter assessing how alcohol affected the rate of child abuse and neglect, concluded that more than 10% of incidents could be prevented by a 10% increase in alcohol taxes.
Mark Kleiman, a late professor of public policy at New York University, was an unabashed supporter. “The single most effective thing you can do to reduce crime right away is to raise the price of alcohol,” he once argued. “It doesn’t cost you anything. You don’t have to kick in anybody’s door. You just have to change a number in the tax code and crime goes down.”
But this tactic is one that New Mexico’s leaders and civic organizations have so far ignored.
Some local non-profits simply don’t buy the connection. “I haven’t seen anything that would lead me to believe that regulation of when you can buy alcohol or how much it costs has any kind of impact,” said David Garvin, a director at the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Other organizations are determined to reduce levels of childhood trauma by strengthening the social safety net. New Mexico Voices for Children helped push the state to increase funding for food security programs, expand early childhood education, and more than double the working families’ tax credit. The organization also advocates for home-visiting programs for pregnant women and families with newborns, programs to prevent teen pregnancy and domestic violence, and cash assistance for families who have suddenly lost income — but nothing directly alcohol-related. “We haven’t done much work in that area, beyond reporting on things like binge drinking and teen and drug/alcohol abuse,” said Wallin.
Katherine Ortega Courtney, one of the founders of the Anna, Age Eight Institute, another organization focused on child wellbeing, is no stranger to the role alcohol plays in the state’s troubles. Growing up in Española, she saw its impact on her own extended family and peers. “I had way too many classmates die, either as a direct result of alcohol or car accidents and things like that,” she said.
Nevertheless, while her organization presses to increase access to behavioral health care, including treatment for alcohol use disorders, it has not attempted to influence alcohol sales or consumption. “People are going to self-medicate in the way that’s most accessible to them,” she said. “So if you make alcohol harder to get, they’ll find a different way.”
In Albuquerque, the mayor’s office acknowledged the connection in a written statement. “Substance abuse and addiction are a central factor of violent crime in our communities.” Although the public sessions of this year’s Metro Crime Initiative do not explicitly reference alcohol (the second is entitled “Drugs and behavioral health”), the mayor’s office cited Keller’s support for barring the sale of miniature bottles of alcohol before it became a state law.
New Mexico In Depth asked the office of the governor whether she had connected alcohol and violence in any public address, or taken actions to address it. Her office did not indicate any.
This reporting was made possible by support from the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, the McCune Charitable Foundation, the Con Alma Health Foundation, and a fellowship from the Association of Health Care Journalists supported by The Commonwealth Fund.
The secret to a sweet yet spicy Fire-Roasted Salsa? Honey. "It adds just a touch of sweetness to balance out the heat," says Hahn. "It is just enough sweetness, and I prefer it over sugar." Here's why it works for your "sauce."
As Hahn herself says, "Nothing tastes better than fresh, homemade salsa." Salsa is typically a combination of plant-based ingredients like jalapeño peppers, tomatoes, onion, garlic, and a variety of herbs and spices like cilantro, cumin, oregano, salt, and chili pepper. These fresh elements bring a bright note to the mouthfeel, alongside the natural spice of the peppers. Hahn recommends Muir Glen fire roasted canned tomatoes for added smokiness.
The addition of honey brings a pleasantly sweet taste into the mix, with a natural ingredient that keeps the organic theme in your salsa as opposed to a teaspoon of granulated sugar. But, if you tend to walk on the wild side with your salsa, we suggest using hot honey to maintain that signature spiciness. If you're still hungry, Hahn shares more recipes via her Instagram account.
NR was authorised as a novel food in 2017 for supplementation at a daily dose of 300mg, after a positive opinion from the European Food Standards Agency (EFSA).
However, biotech developer, ChromaDex, submitted a further request in March 2020 to expand NR’s commercial use and to seek protection for the proprietary data of a study lodged with the petition.
Positive opinion
The authority returned a positive scientific opinion earlier this month, following a favourable safety assessment that deemed the extension of use conditions appropriate in the foods outlined, with effect from July 25th.
Changes to the novel food regulations allow NR inclusion in foods for special medical purposes and as a dietary replacement in weight control management at levels of 500mg per day for adults, excluding pregnant and lactating women.
Demands for protection of supporting material were, however, declined by the authority. The opinion indicated that the human study evaluating the safety and dose-dependent effects of NR supplementation was not needed for the assessment or overall decision-making process and, as such, should not be protected in according with EU regulations (Article 27(1) of Regulation 2015/2281).
EU regulations
The original EFSA assessment on the safety of NR as a meal replacement for the general population concluded that 300mg per day was below the established nicotinamide ‘Upper Level’ (UL) for adults and therefore considered safe, with the exception of pregnant and lactating women.
The current scientific opinion supports these initial findings and asserts there are also sufficient grounds to establish NR in the prescribed format; it states that the ingredient “fulfils the conditions for its placing on the market in accordance with Article 12(1) of Regulation (EU) 2015/2282”.
BASF said dwindling gas supplies were a threat to its German manufacturing hub, which is the world’s largest integrated chemicals complex.
Photo: Boris Roessler/Zuma Press
BASF SE, one of the world’s largest chemicals companies, said it would reduce production of fertilizer ingredient ammonia, as it seeks to curb its natural gas use after Russia throttled flows to Europe.
Moscow began Wednesday reducing supplies via the Nord Stream pipeline, the largest Russian gas link to Europe, to around 20% of capacity. The reductions complicate the continent’s efforts to store enough gas ahead of winter, raising the specter for industry of costly rationing. European Union members this week agreed to sweeping cuts to natural-gas consumption, calling for countries to voluntarily reduce their gas use by 15% from August.
European gas prices surged to near record highs Wednesday, closing in on the March peaks that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
For BASF, the supply cuts and higher prices carry a heavy burden, as it uses the fuel both to generate power and as feedstock for products. The German multinational said Wednesday it would reduce it production of ammonia, for which natural gas is required, in a bid to reduce its demand.
Gas can account for up to 85% of the production cost of ammonia, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Ammonia, in turn, is a key ingredient for many types of fertilizer.
While BASF said that the ammonia output cuts won’t affect farmers this year, as they have bought enough fertilizer and the harvest is already taking place, issues might arise next year.
“Ammonia is in a difficult situation,” BASF Chief Executive Martin Brudermüller said. “Next year’s availability of fertilizer might be worse. Fertilizer prices are skyrocketing.”
He said that this could mean lower harvests next year. “And if there are weather issues on top of this, that means there could be a shortage of important crops,” Mr. Brudermüller said, adding that this would be especially challenging for poorer countries at the end of the food-supply chain.
The company, which is responsible for as much as 4% of German gas demand, said it was buying extra ammonia from external suppliers to help mitigate the risks.
BASF said that dwindling Russian gas supplies were a threat to its manufacturing hub in Ludwigshafen, Germany, which is the world’s largest integrated chemicals complex. If gas supply falls significantly below 50% of Ludwigshafen’s maximum demand over a sustained period, it would have to stop production, the company said.
Meantime, Mr. Brudermüller said BASF expects to continue to operate the site at a reduced load, even in the case of gas-rationing measures by the German government.
BASF is also preparing to substitute fuel oil for gas as much as possible. It said that power and steam production in Ludwigshafen can partially be switched to fuel oil, which would substitute around 15% of the gas demand.
Gas-saving measures in the chemical industry are limited by current technology. Switching to renewables in the power supply and using biofuel feedstocks, including biomethane, won’t be able to substitute fossil fuels at large scale soon, analysts say.
Germany’s VCI chemical industry association has said that the chemicals sector, the country’s largest industrial gas consumer, requires around 135 terawatt hours of gas a year. The industry can save only two to three terawatt hours by using alternative fuels.
BASF said that if Russia cuts gas supplies to Europe further, it would seek to compensate for its loss of European production by ramping up sites outside of the continent. BASF has large sites in Louisiana and Texas, as well as in China.
In the second quarter, BASF’s gas bill rose by 800 million euros, equivalent to around $810 million, compared with a year earlier. The company has raised its prices and said it would continue to do so to offset this cost.
BASF raised its full-year guidance on the back of strong first-half results, but warned that it expected the global economy to cool amid the war in Ukraine and its impact on energy and raw-material prices.
“For the second half of the year, BASF anticipates a gradual cooling of economic development globally, but much more pronounced in Europe,” Mr. Brudermüller said.
Our recipe for creamy salsa verde really couldn't be any easier. And just in case you're a visual learner, feel free to check out the video version on YouTube. You'll need the usual suspects for this recipe: tomatillos, jalapeño, cilantro, onion, salt, a little water, and the secret ingredient that pulls it all together: fresh avocado. All the ingredients go in the food processor, and you're done in no time.
The acidity from the tomatillo, the heat from the peppers, the fresh vibrance of cilantro, all pull together with the natural, nutty creaminess of avocado, making this salsa a perfect complement to everything from scrambled eggs to roasted pork loin. And because the richness comes from avocado, your creamy salsa verde is a great vegan option, since it doesn't contain any dairy. Whip up a batch and experiment by drizzling some salsa verde on your breakfast sandwich, or just serve it with fresh tortilla chips.
“A lot of [ingredient and food formulation] companies hold things very, very close the vest,” and are unwilling to share information about the solutions and tools they offer for fear that a competitor will use the data to their advantage, Collette Kakuk, VP global marketing an Layn Natural Ingredients, told FoodNavigator-USA at the IFT FIRST conference in Chicago this month.
But, she said, this is an outdated way of thinking and that does more harm than good.
“I think this is more of an opportunity than a threat, because there are easy ways to get competitive information. You have a friend do it, or another company do it, and so what we are really avoiding is the opportunity to lead with value, to share what we have to offer and to make it easily accessible” for potential customers to “synergistically explore,” she said.
She explained that by publishing detailed, easy to search – and ungated – information about everything Layn has to offer, the sales team has cultivated more and higher quality leads among both returning consumers and new companies, including start-ups that may be small now, but are growing fast.
“Leading with value, and making this information available in the library removes pain points that can slow or block sales. For example, there is no longer a lot of back and forth with a sales rep, which takes time and can cause a lag” that could potentially compromise a consumers’ competitive edge or hinder their first-mover advantage, Kakuk said.
“It also quickly allows somebody, especially a product developer, who is thinking about complementary ingredients and different versions of a product to synergistically explore” without delay, potentially resulting in a more robust partnership, she said.
Layn blazes digital trail with easily searchable online ingredient library for 'synergistic' exploration, product development - FoodNavigator-USA.com Read More
The season of zucchini and summer squash is upon us, and whether you're grilling, air-frying, or making zoodles with your courgette, there are endless ways you can prepare this nutrient-dense vegetable (OK, technically it's a fruit because it has seeds) to complement a healthy diet. But if you've grown bored of your usual recipes and want to get more inventive with your zucchini, may we recommend these homemade tortillas from recipe creator Alexandra Stafford of Alexandra's Kitchen?
"I'm always looking for new zucchini recipes to add to the rotation, and these zucchini tortillas are my latest favorite discovery," Stafford reveals in a recent Instagram reel. We love cooking with zucchini because it's rich in antioxidants and contains a range of vitamins and minerals, but if you want to take your recipe to the next level, these tortillas are the perfect opportunity to add in one extra nutritious ingredient: mbg's organic veggies+.
So, what's chef Andrew Zimmern's hot take on cacio e pepe? He creates a continental medley by taking this old-world dish and adding a new world ingredient, corn, which traces its origins to Mexico (via North Dakota State University).
Zimmern shared the idea for his "Sweet Corn Cacio e Pepe" on Twitter, calling it "a seasonal twist on the 'It' pasta of the moment," and went into more detail in his "Spilled Milk" Substack newsletter. Exulting basic cacio e pepe for its incredible taste and texture, Zimmern explains the simple dish gained popularity during the pandemic when home cooks were, well, home and cooking. Savvy restaurateurs caught on to how inexpensive it was to make and how easy it was to sell to customers looking for comfort food.
Today, he points out, this pasta is on menus everywhere, both in restaurants and at home. Zimmern makes many variations on the classic dish, but his favorite for summer includes sweet corn. He says the flavor of the summer staple is enhanced by "the saltiness of the cheese and the intensity of the black pepper." Plus, he says, the creaminess of the "sauce," a combination of pasta water and butter, is also a perfect foil to the crisp corn. The full recipe is only available to "Spilled Milk" subscribers, but if the final result is as sweet as this corn and pasta combo sounds, it might be worth signing up.
For the most famous cocktail in the world, the martini remains a riddle. The recipe is simple, verging on boring, made with just three components: gin, dry vermouth and bitters. Yet it’s shockingly easy to be served a bad one and, unlike a Guinness or a margarita, there’s no innate drinker’s sense as to where the best ones are hiding: I’ve had superlative examples at southern BBQ joints, strip mall Chinese restaurants and a surprising number of dive bars, from New York to Los Angeles and everywhere in between. The drink’s final, intangible ingredient, I’ve come to believe, is the atmosphere in which you drink it.
Washington, DC is an inherently good martini town, a heady, serious mix of back-room power dealing and well-lubricated diplomacy. And at the new Doyle, in the revamped Dupont Circle hotel, senior bar manager Julian Enright pours an impeccable version from behind the chic, Martin Brudnizki-designed bar: a tall measure of crisp dry gin, enough dry vermouth to add structure and three dashes of orange bitters. Shaken to the verge of assault and served with a thin twist of lemon peel, it hits all the right martini cues: sharp, clean and bracingly cold, with the gin’s juniper kick and the whisper of citrus from the bitters and garnish emerging just as the liquid warms on the palette, a half-beat before it’s swallowed, a fleeting but essential note that elevates the drink from the merely delicious to the ephemerally sublime. (Coincidentally, the recipe poured by Enright happens to be my go-to, ne plus ultra preparation, though I never said a word; when I mentioned the fact, he simply shrugged and said, “It’s the absolute classic preparation”—despite the fact that what constitutes the “classic preparation” is a source of endless debate and squabbling. In that moment, it felt as if I had met a kindred spirit.)
Sitting by a large picture window in the elegantly colorful, mid-century-inspired lounge, observing a discreetly tailored clientele knotted in neckties and pearls, the drink feels fundamental, inevitable, like an extension of the décor. The final ingredient, in perfect proportion.
Republicans have every reason to be optimistic that their party will win control of the House — and likely the Senate — in the November midterm elections.
The Democratic Party is defending razor-thin majorities in Congress at a time when Americans broadly disapprove of President Biden and are deeply pessimistic about the way things are going in the country, especially with the economy.
Indeed, nearly three-quarters of Americans (72 percent) say that the country is on the wrong track, and a majority (51 percent) describe the economy as being in “poor shape.” There is also a widespread belief that inflation is a very serious problem (64 percent) and that Biden bears at least some responsibility for it (73 percent).
Given how unfavorable the current national political environment is for Democrats — on top of the fact that the president’s party almost always loses House seats in midterm elections — criticizing the Biden administration for inflation and the rising cost of living could very well be a sufficient strategy for the G.O.P. to win control of Congress this year.
That being said, in order for a true red-wave election to take place in 2022 — and to sustain itself through 2024 — Republicans need to do more at the national, state and local levels than just attack Democrats and oppose their agenda.
Rather, the GOP must develop a positive and constructive agenda that offers centrist solutions to the key issues facing the country in order to show the American people that the party’s priorities are in line with their own.
When Republicans took control of the House in 1994, they had their Contract with America, which comprised tax cuts and tax relief for middle-class families, measures to reduce crime, term limits and a balanced budget.
In 2022, the GOP needs an American Revitalization Plan that prioritizes fiscal prudence, lowering taxes, improving public safety, strengthening immigration laws, promoting individual liberties and allowing parents to have more choice over their child’s education.
It is also critical that the new Republican agenda is forward-looking, and not focused on relitigating Donald Trump’s past grievances about the 2020 election.
Continuing to dwell on the 2020 election is counterproductive to the G.O.P.’s short- and long-term political goals, as it alienates swing voters and Independents — who largely accept Joe Biden’s victory as legitimate, believe Jan. 6 was an attempted insurrection and are concerned about addressing the challenges of today, not fighting about alleged voter fraud in the last election.
In order to reach these voters in the middle, Republicans should promote an economic plan that provides tax incentives for job creation, prioritizes deficit reduction, eases inflation and limits government spending to fiscally prudent programs that have broad public support, such as Medicare and Medicaid.
Loosening overly burdensome regulations on America’s energy sector would also be immensely beneficial in terms of helping the U.S. achieve energy independence — which the public increasingly recognizes as an important goal, given the current crisis with gas prices.
Furthermore, instead of criticizing Democrats for surging crime and the migrant crisis at the Southern border, Republicans should propose actual solutions such as increasing funding to bolster and better train law enforcement officers — both police officers in localities, and patrol agents at the southern border.
To that end, the GOP can lead the way by proposing a long-overdue immigration compromise that strengthens our physical border security and also provides a pathway to citizenship for the millions of undocumented immigrants brought here illegally as children.
National Republicans should also take a page from Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s 2021 playbook by promoting individual liberties generally, and specifically empowering parents through enhanced school choice opportunities and promoting greater parental involvement in curricula. This strategy helped Youngkin connect with moderate suburban voters, which is the precise coalition that the G.O.P. should be targeting in 2022.
Perhaps most importantly, on hot-button social issues — namely, abortion and guns — the G.O.P. needs to establish a more moderate party line in order to distance itself from the party’s extreme fringes.
Put another way, the Republican Party’s positions on these issues must reflect the reality that Americans broadly support abortion as a legal right with limitations, and widely favor common-sense restrictions on gun ownership that still allow law-abiding citizens to own guns.
Towing the centrist line on abortion and guns can be enormously beneficial to the Republican Party. By assuming a more open stance on abortion legality, Republicans can better sell their party as one that protects individual liberties; similarly, by moving to the middle on guns, the GOP can position and promote themselves as the law and order party.
However, if Republicans fail to moderate their positions, the party leaves itself vulnerable to attacks from Democrats for being extreme and out of touch.
Ultimately, Republicans merely opposing Democrats at every turn is not enough to produce a red-wave election in 2022 and will certainly not be enough to carry a pro-Republican trend through to 2024.
In order for the G.O.P. to secure a red wave in 2022 and improve their chances of retaking the White House in 2024, the party needs to coalesce around a moderate agenda that offers real solutions, avoids relitigating past grievances, and rejects the party’s extreme fringes.
Douglas E. Schoen is a political consultant who served as an adviser to former President Clinton and to the 2020 presidential campaign of Michael Bloomberg. He is the author of “The End of Democracy? Russia and China on the Rise and America in Retreat.”
Dr. Larissa Lindsey of UNM’s Addiction and Substance Abuse Program, known as ASAP, at her home in Tijeras, N.M. CREDIT: Adria Malcolm for New Mexico In Depth
New Mexico is a violent state. It ranks among the worst for women murdered by men, child abuse and neglect are almost twice as common as they are nationwide, and its rate of suicide is one of the highest of any state. Last year, Albuquerque’s homicide rate shattered previous records, a 46% jump from 2020, and the state’s reached heights not experienced since 1986.
It’s understood that drinking and violence go together but the public may not recognize just how intertwined they are — particularly in New Mexico, where violence involves alcohol more than any other intoxicant.
A New Mexico In Depth analysis of toxicology records obtained from the state health department shows in the last 10 years, at least 42% of homicide victims were drinking alcohol at the time of death. So were at least 32% of people who died by suicide, which is also considered a violent death. In 2020, the health department attributed a total of 231 violent deaths to alcohol, outnumbering alcohol-involved traffic fatalities that year.
The analysis also showed that more than half of homicide victims in Santa Fe County in that period had alcohol in their blood, a finding Sheriff Adan Mendoza called “alarming.” After reviewing the data, his staff examined the records of six recent homicides and found drinking involved in five.
“I don’t think as law enforcement sometimes we’re thinking about some of the underlying issues, why we respond, why we handle calls. But when you sit down and think about it, and you look at the data, it’s concerning,” Mendoza said.
And just as alcohol can encourage violence, victims may self-medicate with alcohol or other drugs, propelling an unrelenting cycle. To break free, addiction specialists say people need to address their substance disorders and traumas simultaneously — but few New Mexican healthcare providers make that easy.
Adding fuel to the fire
Physiologically, drinking contributes to violence in multiple ways. Alcohol can inhibit reasoning and empathy, encourage impulsive behavior, and blind people to the long-term consequences of their actions. That makes those who are intoxicated both easier targets and more audacious attackers.
Alcohol alone does not cause violence, scientists say, but it increases its likelihood. David Jernigan, a professor at Boston University School of Public Health, compared it to pouring gasoline on a lit fire. “If there is potential for violence, and you add alcohol, the potential increases.”
It’s not just the drinking that matters. Businesses that sell alcohol have been shown to generate violence in their proximity, both because their customers are appealing targets of crime and because trips to the alcohol outlet brings them into contact — and sometimes conflict — with one another. A study in Baltimore found that for each additional liquor store in a census tract, violent crime increased 4.8% after adjusting for other factors such as poverty and vacant housing.
Alcohol also contributes to suicide deaths, which outnumber homicides statewide by more than two to one but receive far less attention from policymakers.
The data analyzed by New Mexico In Depth are part of the New Mexico Violent Death Reporting System (NM-VDRS), which draws on police reports and death certificates from nearly every violent death statewide. Whenever possible, health department officials also investigate the circumstances preceding violent deaths. Historically, about one in five New Mexican suicide victims had chronic drinking problems that contributed to their despair. Notably, nearly half of people aged 35 to 44 who died by suicide in New Mexico last year were intoxicated.
Wendy Linebrink-Allison, who manages the state’s crisis hotline, said that among the 93,480 calls that operators fielded in 2021, callers were more likely to report being intoxicated with alcohol than any other substance. “I would put alcohol as it relates to suicide prevention as one of the top three concerns that people should be aware of,” she said.
Layers of trauma
Dr. Larissa Lindsey began her career in clinical psychology on the East Coast treating patients who had experienced profound traumas, including veterans and prisoners. But this didn’t prepare her for the patient population she met in Albuquerque. “The only community I’ve worked in that I would say very closely parallels this one is Newark, New Jersey, which was a relatively stable community until the 70s and 80s when it was just decimated by the crack cocaine epidemic,” she said.
Lindsey now directs clinical services at the University of New Mexico’s Addiction and Substance Abuse Program, known as ASAP, a catchment for this sorrow.
ASAP occupies a two-story building of russet stucco a couple miles south of the university campus, out by the airport. Lindsey and others say the remote location reflects stringent regulations governing where prescribers of substance use medications can operate, as well as long-standing stigma towards the people who need them. The program opted for a building near a city bus route, since many patients lack personal transportation.
The UNM Addiction and Substance Abuse Program is located just south of the airport, near a public bus route. CREDIT: Marjorie Childress for New Mexico In Depth
The program cares for about 800 patients at any time. Though many are middle-aged and have a well-worn relationship with drugs or alcohol, their addictions are often rooted in childhood traumas.
In New Mexico, surveyed children report higher exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) than kids in most other states, including physical abuse and the misery of deep poverty. Lindsey explained that for developing minds, hunger and homelessness are similar in effect to violence: “They don’t know where the next meal is going to come from — and in a child’s brain, that’s life threatening.” In turn, studies show that each ACE puts a child at higher risk of developing alcohol problems later in life.
Advocates note that many people exposed to trauma recover, particularly if they have attentive families and strong support systems. “Children are really resilient,” said Amber Wallin, executive director of the advocacy organization New Mexico Voices for Children, particularly if they are only exposed to one or two ACEs. But if trauma accumulates beyond that, she said, the challenges become more difficult to overcome — “and that’s where New Mexico fares really poorly.”
Improving outcomes for New Mexico’s kids is the “million-dollar question,” said Wallin, but the state has been perpetually mired near the bottom of rankings for overall child well-being.
Breaking the cycle
In Brittany’s childhood in northern New Mexico, alcohol and violence intermingled from the very beginning. Her first memory is of her grandfather returning home extremely drunk and getting into a physical fight with her dad.
All the adults in her family drank regularly, Brittany said. (To protect her confidentiality, in this article she is identified by a pseudonym.) Physical and verbal abuse were routine. “I don’t remember a lot because I would disassociate myself, because it was stressful,” she said. At school, she was shy, she said. “I had friends but not anybody I could get close to.”
Untreated trauma like Brittany’s can lead to addiction through a cascade of neurodevelopmental problems. Lindsey explained that a child may begin to struggle in school and in relating to other children, exacerbating conflicts with his or her family. Spending time with other troubled children can increase the chances the traumatized child experiments with alcohol and drugs and then comes to depend on them to cope with life’s difficulties. “That’s essentially what addiction is.”
In early adolescence, Brittany found an outlet in basketball, volleyball, and softball, but at 16 she discovered alcohol. Where she had once struggled to relax, now she was at ease — as long as she was drinking. But her traumas accumulated: at a party the summer after she graduated from high school, she was drugged and sexually assaulted, she said. Injuries she suffered during the attack led to a near-fatal infection, which required a months-long hospitalization and even longer recovery to regain her motor skills. “So, that was a big thing that I drank over, after that,” she said.
She struggled through three semesters of community college before dropping out to take a series of low-wage jobs. “I really didn’t have any dreams — or I did, but I’m like, it’s just not for me.” Drinking more heavily, she was convicted of a DWI, then another.
After the second arrest, her mindset began to shift. She completed a court-mandated treatment program and met with a therapist for the first time at Sexual Assault ServicesofNorthwest New Mexico.
She also began attending 12-step meetings and opened up to a friend who had similar experiences. “She would say things that I felt, or that I had thought before, that I never heard anybody else say,” Brittany recalled. “I felt more connected than I had ever been.” Three years later at her college graduation, she was asked to give a speech to her classmates, and has since taken on leadership roles in the state’s network of Alcoholics Anonymous chapters.
But she said she wouldn’t have succeeded without treating her trauma and her addiction simultaneously. She emphasizes this to other women with substance use disorders rooted in similar traumas, which she said is common among the people she knows in recovery.
That’s the approach taken by Lindsey and the providers at ASAP, which is one of the state’s foremost programs for trauma-informed care of addiction — and among the few that accept Medicaid, which insures nearly half of New Mexicans. Most other providers around the state don’t offer that combination.
“They would be told ‘we can’t treat your PTSD or your depression or bipolarity until you stop using’,” said Lindsey, “and then they go to that treatment center and they say ‘we’re not going to be effective at treating your substance use disorder because your trauma symptoms are so pronounced’.”
“I would put alcohol as it relates to suicide prevention as one of the top three concerns that people should be aware of.”
Wendy Linebrink-Allison, manager of the state’s crisis hotline
Missing approaches
It’s important for patients to get treatment that interrupts cycles of trauma and substance use, but statewide policies that address the underlying causes of alcohol-fueled violence could prevent such cycles from even beginning.
Specifically, there’s a growing body of evidence for limiting the ubiquity of alcohol and increasing its price.
Sara Markowitz, a professor of economics at Emory University who co-authored a book chapter assessing how alcohol affected the rate of child abuse and neglect, concluded that more than 10% of incidents could be prevented by a 10% increase in alcohol taxes.
Mark Kleiman, a late professor of public policy at New York University, was an unabashed supporter. “The single most effective thing you can do to reduce crime right away is to raise the price of alcohol,” he once argued. “It doesn’t cost you anything. You don’t have to kick in anybody’s door. You just have to change a number in the tax code and crime goes down.”
But this tactic is one that New Mexico’s leaders and civic organizations have so far ignored.
Some local non-profits simply don’t buy the connection. “I haven’t seen anything that would lead me to believe that regulation of when you can buy alcohol or how much it costs has any kind of impact,” said David Garvin, a director at the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Other organizations are determined to reduce levels of childhood trauma by strengthening the social safety net. New Mexico Voices for Children helped push the state to increase funding for food security programs, expand early childhood education, and more than double the working families’ tax credit. The organization also advocates for home-visiting programs for pregnant women and families with newborns, programs to prevent teen pregnancy and domestic violence, and cash assistance for families who have suddenly lost income — but nothing directly alcohol-related. “We haven’t done much work in that area, beyond reporting on things like binge drinking and teen and drug/alcohol abuse,” said Wallin.
Katherine Ortega Courtney, one of the founders of the Anna, Age Eight Institute, another organization focused on child wellbeing, is no stranger to the role alcohol plays in the state’s troubles. Growing up in Española, she saw its impact on her own extended family and peers. “I had way too many classmates die, either as a direct result of alcohol or car accidents and things like that,” she said.
Nevertheless, while her organization presses to increase access to behavioral health care, including treatment for alcohol use disorders, it has not attempted to influence alcohol sales or consumption. “People are going to self-medicate in the way that’s most accessible to them,” she said. “So if you make alcohol harder to get, they’ll find a different way.”
In Albuquerque, the mayor’s office acknowledged the connection in a written statement. “Substance abuse and addiction are a central factor of violent crime in our communities.” Although the public sessions of this year’s Metro Crime Initiative do not explicitly reference alcohol (the second is entitled “Drugs and behavioral health”), the mayor’s office cited Keller’s support for barring the sale of miniature bottles of alcohol before it became a state law.
New Mexico In Depth asked the office of the governor whether she had connected alcohol and violence in any public address, or taken actions to address it. Her office did not indicate any.
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Ted Alcorn is a writer raised in New Mexico whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post Magazine, among other publications. For New Mexico In Depth he’s investigated how the state’s prisons have ignored an epidemic of hepatitis C, how Albuquerque stood up its branch of non-police emergency response, and how non-profit hospitals shortchange community health. Follow him at @tedalcorn.
